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Enlarge ImageRequest to buy this photoAP FILE PHOTOWal-Mart says an intensely competitive holiday shopping season, combined with a cut in food stamps on Nov. 1, hurt revenue in its quarter that ended on Jan. 31.

Much like its low-income shoppers, Wal-Mart can’t seem to catch a break as the U.S. economy
rebounds.

The world’s largest retailer posted a 21 percent drop in fourth-quarter profit and gave a
subdued forecast yesterday for the current year as it continues to be weighed down by a number of
factors.

Winter has been marked by severe weather and slow spending over the holidays. Growing
competition from dollar stores and grocers also has chipped away sales. And the latest headache?
Wal-Mart said the Nov. 1 expiration of a temporary boost in food stamps is hurting its shoppers’
ability to spend.

The issues that Wal-Mart Stores Inc. faces are big challenges for Doug McMillon, who took over
as CEO on Feb. 1. In a pre-recorded call yesterday, McMillon promised that Wal-Mart will sharpen
its focus on everyday low prices at U.S. stores and further push that strategy abroad.

Wal-Mart also said it will speed up growth plans for its Neighborhood Markets and Wal-Mart
Expresses, smaller stores that cater to shoppers looking for more convenience with fresh produce,
meat, and household and beauty products. It now plans to open 270 to 300 small stores during the
current fiscal year — double its initial forecast. It has 346 Neighborhood Markets and 20 Wal-Mart
Expresses. The expansion of smaller stores now outpaces the growth of its supercenters, which had
long been the company’s growth engine.

“Customers’ shopping habits are changing more rapidly than ever before,” McMillon said. “We must
be more nimble and flexible.”

Wal-Mart’s results give insight into shopper behavior during the recovery. It’s considered an
economic bellwether because it accounts for nearly 10 percent of U.S. nonautomotive retail
spending. Wal-Mart, like other retailers, warned in late January that its profit and sales were
hurt by a number of factors.

The holiday shopping season was intensely competitive in November and December. During the
busiest shopping period of the year, Wal-Mart had to slash prices to get customers to spend.

On top of that, the company said revenue at stores open at least a year fell in the first two
weeks of February because of severe weather. It said that at the height of winter storms, it had
more than 200 stores closed.

Additionally, the discounter said the expiration of a temporary boost in government food stamps
was a big reason for a sales decline in its grocery business.

And the company also said it’s facing higher health-care costs because of a spike in enrollment
by employees who see its plan as better than what’s in the individual market in the U.S.

Wal-Mart said it earned $4.43 billion, or $1.36 per share, in the quarter that ended on Jan. 31.
That compares with $5.6 billion, or $1.67 per share, a year earlier.

Excluding charges related to closing stores in Brazil and China, Wal-Mart earned $1.60 per
share. Revenue, which excludes its membership fees at the Sam’s Club division, was up 1.4 percent
to $128.79 billion.

Analysts expected $1.59 per share on revenue of $129.9 billion, according to research firm
FactSet.

Cinemark

Admissions revenue increased 6.9 percent and concession revenue rose 6.2 percent compared with
the same period of 2012, officials said.

The average ticket price increased 5.1 percent, and concession revenue per patron rose 4.4
percent in the final three months of 2013.

The company’s quarterly profit was $15.6 million, compared with $27.8 million in the same
three-month period of 2012. Officials said the 2013 figure included an after-tax loss of about
$17.9 million on the company’s sale of its Mexico subsidiaries.

Texas-based Cinemark is the nation’s third-largest theater chain.

Express Scripts

Express Scripts, the largest U.S. pharmacy-benefits manager, said its fourth-quarter net income
slipped, hurt by the loss of UnitedHealth, a large customer.

Pharmacy-benefits managers run prescription-drug plans for employers, insurers and other
customers. They process mail-order prescriptions and handle bills for prescriptions filled at
retail pharmacies.

St. Louis-based Express Scripts Holding Co. said it earned $501.9 million, down from $504.1
million in the final quarter of 2012. On a per-share basis, earnings rose to 63 cents from 61 cents
as the company’s shares outstanding shrank.